A Proper Family
by JilyHinnyRomione15
Summary: Set after Harry's fifth year, after the battle at the Department of Mysteries. Sirius never died. WARNING: Abused Harry, abuse mentioned. Sirius is now faced with teaching Harry what it's like to have a real, loving family and to trust people more. Better summary inside. If abuse and deconstructive thoughts trigger something for you, don't read. Rated M because I'm paranoid.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hello all! This is my second fanfic. Thanks for reading it! This story starts immediately after the fight at the Department of Mysteries. In my story, Sirius didn't die; he had a near-death experience. I enjoy stories where Sirius lived. :) Also, Harry is an abused child, and Sirius is learning how to help him overcome the emotional scars from years of abuse and being mistreated. If you don't like this or think it could trigger things, please don't read. I am a bit of a graphic writer. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the Wizarding World; if I did, there would be so many more books.**

**With that behind us, here's the story. Please review after you read!**

* * *

Prologue

Harry Potter and Sirius Black landed hard on the floor of the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts. Harry was exhausted – fighting Death Eaters and Voldemort attempting to possess him had drained the teenager of virtually all his energy. Sirius, however, was fuming. He tossed the quill that had served as their Portkey to the ground and turned to Harry.

"Harry. What the _hell_ were you thinking by going to the Department of Mysteries tonight?" Sirius asked angrily. "And dragging your friends along! All of you could have been killed!"

Harry merely gaped at his godfather. He hadn't expected Sirius to be so angry.

"I-I had a vision," stammered Harry. "I saw you there, and Voldemort was torturing you. I had to help you! I couldn't just leave you there!"

Sirius softened at his godson's reply. "But didn't it ever cross your mind that Voldemort could be planting a false vision to lure you?"

"Yes, and I know that now. I tried to check that," admitted Harry.

"How?" asked Sirius.

"I firecalled you," said Harry. "But Kreature said you weren't there. So I thought you had to be at the Ministry."

"That lying sack of dung," Sirius said bitterly. "I'll be having a talk with him soon."

"I didn't want the others to come," Harry pressed on. "I tried to make them stay, but they wouldn't listen."

"So you thought you'd just take on the Dark Lord all by yourself, did you?" Sirius fumed. "What did you plan to do once you got there?"

"No! I never wanted to fight!" said Harry indignantly. "Just to get you out of there!"

Sirius shook Harry's shoulders. "But don't you see, Harry, that's exactly what Voldemort wanted! For you to be completely unprepared and play into his plan! You were just lucky he didn't capture you and that no one was hurt."

Harry sunk down into the chair next to him and sighed. "I know. But you almost were," said Harry guiltily.

"Harry," said Sirius tiredly, "don't worry about me. I'll take care of myself."

Suddenly, a small _pop_ interrupted their conversation. Albus Dumbledore had Apparated into the room.

"I have information that will interest you both," said Dumbledore.

Harry and Sirius looked at him expectantly.

"Peter Pettigrew was taken into Ministry custody tonight as he tried to flee," Dumbledore continued happily. "Sirius, as the Minister saw you with Harry tonight, he has agreed to give you a trial, and it is expected for you to be cleared."

Sirius and Harry gaped at Dumbledore. Sirius seemed to recover from his shock the quickest and asked Dumbledore, "When would my trial be held?"

"Within a week."

"What about custody of Harry?" asked Sirius quickly. "School gets out before then."

"That is one of the many things I must speak with you about tonight," Dumbledore said cryptically. "Harry will stay with his aunt and uncle. He doesn't have to stay the entire summer, but at least for a short while."

Harry had turned his gazed to his godfather, still in shock. "You still want me to come and live with you?"

"Of course I do," replied Sirius, not missing a beat.

"Why don't we all sit down?" Dumbledore suggested. "We have a lot to discuss, and a very short amount of time for it."

Dumbledore proceeded to explain to them the contents of the prophecy made by Sybill Trelawney sixteen years before and the protection Lily Potter created the night she died, as well as the Blood Wards put in place at the Dursley residence.

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**A/N: Well, that's the prologue. What did you guys think? I've got part of the first chapter written, and I hope to update soon. If any of you follow or read my other fanfic, Harry's Wish, I hope to update that soon too. It just depends on how much time I have between work and packing to move. Thanks for reading, everyone! I'll try to update soon!**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: I have been so excited about the response for this new story! Thank you guys! The reviews and everything else is so awesome and so encouraging. If you guys like stories like this one, you'd like my other story, Harry's Wish, which is being updated regularly and is very similar to this. I really enjoy reading and writing these kinds of stories. :) Harry's Wish is a bit more developed than this story, for the simple fact that I've been writing it longer; I also have James and Lily in that story. I love them. Look in the stories that I've followed; you guys, some of these stories have nearly made me cry because of how well written they are. **

**Anywho, this is the first legitimate chapter of this story. I hope you guys like it! It was pretty easy for me to write, so I kind of doubt how good it is. Please let me know what you think! Sorry it's kind of short, that's just the way it happened. Maybe next chapter will be longer? We'll see!**

**Disclaimer: I woke up today and had to actually go to work… Guess I'm still not J.K. Rowling. Damn.**

**With that behind us, here's Chapter One!**

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Chapter One

It had been two weeks since Harry had come back to the Dursley's after the end of term at Hogwarts. Sirius' trial had been the week before; he had been cleared of all charges, and Pettigrew had been sentenced to fifteen years in Azkaban, ending in the Dementor's Kiss. Sirius had been compensated with quite a large sum of gold for his time spent wrongfully incarcerated. He had begun the paperwork for immediate custody of Harry (with some protest from Dumbledore), and Sirius had assured Harry that as soon as the paperwork was processed he would come collect him and take him to their new home. Harry hoped that would be soon – the past two weeks had been a nightmare.

Apparently, Dumbledore had sent a letter to Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon explaining to them what had happened to him during his fourth year and his fifth year. He also explained what had recently transpired with Sirius, and that Harry would not be living with them much longer. They had used all this information against Harry, torturing him with it night and day. Coupled with this, Uncle Vernon had become increasingly harsh with his punishments. He still wasn't happy that his son had nearly been given the Dementor's Kiss, even if Dudley was perfectly fine. He was also angry that Harry had kept them under the false impression that Sirius ever been guilty in the first place.

Harry had paid dearly for all of this. In addition to being locked in his room for most of his stay, he had been given less food than usual, increased chores, and his punishments had become steadily more violent. Vernon had started to take out all of his frustrations on Harry, far more than he used to, and seemed to be attempting to cause as much damage as possible before Harry left them.

Today had been particularly bad for Harry – he hadn't finished his chores on time, and he had burned part of lunch earlier. Harry ached all over from his punishment. His uncle's words still bounced around his brain:

"_You worthless freak! You can't even cook lunch properly!"_

"_Your pathetic excuse for a godfather won't come for you! Just face it boy, you're stuck! He doesn't want you, and neither do we. No one does."_

"_You should have died with your worthless parents! Or maybe that friend of yours you got killed last year. And at that battle a few weeks ago! Someone should have offed you then! At any rate, you wouldn't burden anyone else anymore."_

These words played over and over again in Harry's mind. Could his uncle be right? Would Sirius really leave him there? And if Sirius did come for him, would it only be to keep his word to his parents, not because he was wanted? Harry felt like such a burden to everyone. And how could Sirius even want him still? It was, after all, entirely his fault that his godfather had nearly been killed in the Department of Mysteries fight less than a month previously. He wouldn't blame Sirius for changing his mind. But he hardly dared to hope that he wouldn't.

Harry's head was pounding and he was aching. His vision was swimming; he didn't bother moving from his spot in the middle of his bedroom floor he was so dizzy with pain. Every breath was labored and his ribs and back hurt. Harry coughed and instantly regretted it: not only had he coughed up blood, but he had the worst stabbing sensation in his ribs. Harry closed his eyes and slowly let unconsciousness take him over.

* * *

_At Grimmauld Place:_

A handsome tawny owl swooped through the open sitting room window at Number 12 Grimmauld Place. The owl dropped the thick envelope that was clutched in its beak onto Sirius Black's lap and circled back to the perch next to the window. Sirius looked at his guests, Albus Dumbledore and Remus Lupin, and slowly opened the letter.

A smile spread over the Animagus' face. These were the papers he had been waiting for since his trial. Finally: he could go get Harry and bring him home.

"Well?" Remus asked after a few minutes.

"This is it," said Sirius excitedly as he folded up the documents. "I am now legally Harry's guardian."

"That's wonderful Sirius!" exclaimed Remus. "When are you going to get him?"

Sirius thought for a moment. "Well, I thought why not now? Maybe I'll surprise him. But I should probably change first."

Remus stood and said, "Well, I'm sorry I can't go with you. I promised to see Dora before the full moon and tonight's the only night she had free. Tell Harry I said hello; I might drop by later."

Dumbledore stood as well. "Sirius, would you mind terribly if I joined you to collect Harry? I have to remove the wards anyway."

"Sure," replied Sirius. "Just let me go put some proper clothes on."

"I'll see myself out, Sirius," said Remus in farewell.

"See ya, Moony," said Sirius. "Tell Dora 'hey' from her favorite cousin."

"Goodbye, Remus," said Dumbledore politely.

Sirius sprinted upstairs and found his new robes and travelling cloak. He changed at top speed and checked his hair. He looked presentable enough. Sirius ran back downstairs to Dumbledore, who had busied himself with studying the Black family tapestry.

"Ready?" said Dumbledore pleasantly.

"Let's go," said Sirius, stowing his wand in his robes.

Dumbledore stepped up to the fireplace, grabbed a pinch of Floo Powder, and said, "Arabella Figg's home!" The fireplace flashed green, and he was gone. Sirius followed Dumbledore's lead and flooed to Mrs. Figg's living room, eager to finally have his godson.

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**A/N: Okay, that was Chapter One. What did you guys think of it? I'm excited to finish writing the next chapter! I know, this one was pretty short as well. I promise for some more Harry/Sirius time next chapter! Please review, loves! Let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello everyone! I'm so terribly sorry it has taken so long for me to update. I've had a lot going on lately. To all my newcomers, welcome! To everyone who has been here since the beginning, thanks for sticking with it! I'm not giving up on this story, or on my other one, Harry's Wish. Which by the way, I updated last night, after a nearly month-long wait. To everyone who also reads that story, the new chapter is up! Enough of me, let's get on with this.**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own the fantastic world of Harry Potter. If I did, I'd be rich. And I would have a ginormous house, filled with all this amazing stuff relating to Harry Potter. Bugger.**

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Chapter 2

Sirius suddenly found himself in front of the door to Number Four, Privet Drive. Why must they go through these pointless formalities? He wanted so desperately to just break the door down, hex the lot of them, and take his godson home. He knew the Muggles didn't treat Harry properly, but if they had harmed one hair on his head…

Dumbledore rapped importantly on the door and they waited. A few short minutes later, the door swung wide to reveal a large, beefy man who looked rather angry. Upon seeing the two men standing on his doorstep, however, his expression changed to look as if he might be sick. His face, which had been a magnificent purple, was slowly draining of its color and was now rather blotchy.

"What do you lot want?" he said rather bravely.

"Good evening, Mr. Dursley," said Dumbledore calmly. "I am Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts. I believe you received my letter concerning Harry earlier this summer?"

"Yes," said Vernon Dursley rather crossly.

"Would you mind if we continued our discussion inside?" Dumbledore suggested. "I think it best if we weren't overheard."

"Er," muttered Vernon. He obviously was stuck; he didn't want people like _them_ in his house, but he also didn't want the neighbors to see. He was also afraid of what they might find – and what they would do when they did.

"Wonderful," said Dumbledore, moving past Vernon, making his way to the sitting room. Sirius quickly followed him, smirking at how uncomfortable their presence was making the man.

Once they were in the sitting room, Dumbledore and Sirius sat down; Vernon remained standing, feeling very uncomfortable at having more of _these people_ in _his_ home.

Dumbledore continued his conversation: "As I was saying. This is Sirius Black," he gestured to Sirius, who merely raised his eyebrows at Vernon, "Harry's godfather. Sirius was recently given a trial and proven innocent. A man whom Sirius and Harry's parents believed to be a friend, Peter Pettigrew, framed him. Pettigrew was captured about a month ago and was questioned about the night Harry's parents were killed. The evidence that Sirius was innocent was so overwhelming that he was pardoned. He has since requested custody of Harry, which is what brings us to your residence tonight."

Sirius looked expectantly at Vernon. Vernon's eyes darted back and forth in a panic; what had happened that he was hiding from them?

"Harry… isn't here," said Vernon unconvincingly.

"You're lying," said Sirius harshly. "What've you done with him?"

"He's gone!" insisted Vernon. "He takes off sometimes and doesn't come back for hours! Not that I care…"

"Fine, I'll find him myself," said Sirius, pushing Vernon aside.

Sirius searched the bottom floor of the house, but he only found Harry's school things. He found it rather odd that they were locked up in a cupboard instead of with Harry in his room.

After no success downstairs, Sirius started for the staircase. First door: no that was the guest room. Obviously, the room that had the sign 'Dudley's Room' wouldn't be Harry's. Next room; no dice, bathroom. Sirius believed the room at the end of the hall to be the master bedroom, so that only left one room. Why were so many locks on the door, though? And a cat flap, to boot? What purpose did that serve?

Sirius slowly made his way to the door, now slightly afraid of what he might find. With a wave of his wand, the locks clicked and the door swung open wide.

The smell hit him like a brick wall. Blood. And there was so much, too. Then his sight caught up with his dog-like sense of smell. The room was so dark, but he could see a crumpled figure lying on the floor in the middle of the room, and it wasn't moving.

"Harry!" came Sirius' strangled cry. Never had he expected this. He was at Harry's side in an instant, afraid to touch him for fear of injuring him further.

"Harry!" called Sirius again desperately, gently shaking the teen's shoulders. "Come on, Harry, wake up! It's me, it's Sirius! Please, Harry, stay with me!"

'_Oh, Merlin, don't let him be dead,'_ thought Sirius. _'I can't handle that. I can't believe I let this happen! I need to get him help!'_

Sirius feverishly searched Harry's wrist for a pulse and nearly cried when he found it. He bent his head low over Harry's face and heard shallow breathing and was further relieved, even if it was only slightly.

"Don't worry, Harry," whispered Sirius. "I'm going to help you. You'll be okay. Everything's going to be alright, pup."

Sirius frantically searched the room for Harry's belongings: Hedwig's cage, clothing, and a few textbooks he found stowed under a loose floorboard. All of Harry's other things were in his trunk downstairs.

He waved his wand and levitated Harry's things. Sirius carefully bent and scooped his unconscious godson off the floor and carried him from the room. When he appeared downstairs with Harry, Albus stood.

"Sirius, what happened?" asked Dumbledore, shocked.

"I dunno," said Sirius, fighting his anger. "Ask that git, he did it I suppose."

Dumbledore turned to Vernon and eye him for a moment. Then, in a very venomous tone he said, "We'll be in touch soon."

He turned back to Sirius and said, "Where are his things?"

"In the hall."

Dumbledore wave his wand and said, "I have sent them to your home; they will be in his room waiting for him. But now, we must get him to Poppy immediately."

"Thank Merlin," Sirius breathed.

With that, they left the Dursley residence and headed for the Hogwarts infirmary.

* * *

_Hogwarts:_

Poppy Pomfrey had been having a very calm summer. So far, she had restocked her stores and had read two new magical medical journals on better healing methods. She had reorganized her infirmary to a more efficient layout that she liked very much. She had just finished rearranging hospital beds when a frantic "MADAME POMFREY!" rang through the hospital wing. She clicked her tongue in distaste and hurried out of her office to see what all the fuss was about.

"There's no need to shout, I'm not deaf, you know," Madame Pomfrey snipped.

"Poppy, your expertise is sorely needed right now," the Headmaster said gravely.

Poppy looked around and saw the limp form of Harry Potter in the arms of his godfather, who looked close to tears.

"Good lord," she gasped. "Put him down, Mr. Black. I can't believe he's already back. This poor boy."

She shooed the two men away and set to work.

Sirius sagged into a nearby chair with his head in his hands. Dumbledore put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

After what seemed like several long, grueling hours, Madame Pomfrey emerged from the curtain surrounding Harry's bed, wiping her blood-soaked hands on her apron.

"Will he be alright?" Sirius asked, leaping to his feet.

"In time, Mr. Black," the mediwitch said tiredly. "He has been through so much. Harry has so many injuries. I was able to heal most of his broken bones, but some I'll have to give him Skele-gro for. He has some internal bleeding, so I'm trying to stop that as well. He's lost a lot of blood, and is severely malnourished. He has a concussion as well. Harry won't need to be up and moving around very much for a while because we don't want him to upset his internal injuries."

Sirius merely nodded; it was taking all he could do not to breaking down right now. This precious little boy that he loved so much was hurting so badly and was fighting for his life_. 'Why Harry?' he thought. 'What did Harry ever do to deserve this? He's such a sweet kid. This isn't fair.'_

"Can I see him?" he managed to choke out.

"Sure," said Madame Pomfrey, pulling back the curtain. "He's asleep though. He will be for a while, I'm afraid. It's better that way, so he doesn't feel the pain. He needs a pain potion and I give him a dreamless sleep, just as a precaution."

Sirius nodded, taking Harry's hand. The boy looked terrible. The bruises stood out almost sickly against his pale skin. He looked so young when he was asleep; but even in his sleep he looked to be in pain.

Sirius was not aware that Madame Pomfrey had left the hospital wing. He had also forgotten that Dumbledore was there. It startled him a bit when the old wizard spoke.

"I will owl Remus and inform him of Harry's situation. I also believe the Weasley's should be alerted, as they are very close with Harry as well."

Again, Sirius nodded his acknowledgement. He was afraid that if he opened his mouth, he would scream or howl like a dog in pain. This just wasn't right. How could someone do this to Harry? Sweet little Harry, his pup, Lily and James' son. Any child, really. They would pay. He would see to it.

Sirius didn't sleep that night. He stayed awake, watching the rise and fall of Harry's tightly bandaged chest, rubbing his thumb over the small, bandaged hand of the boy that lay unconscious in the bed next to him, praying he would be alright.

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**A/N: So, that's Chapter 2! I hope you guys enjoyed it! Sorry it seems short. Maybe I'll get the next chapter out sooner than I did with this one. Wish me luck! Don't forget to review, loves!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hi everyone! Yes, I'm back. Please don't send any rogue bludgers my way. I'm terribly sorry for the long wait. The honest truth is, life just got in the way of my writing this time. When I got the chance to write, I really did enjoy writing this new chapter when I had the chance to. I'm really going to try to do better. I'm not going to promise a chapter per week, because I want to give you lot something worth reading, and I don't know how long it will take me to write good chapters. So I'll just promise that I won't take that long to update again.**

**I'm forever grateful to those of you who have reviewed, favorited, and followed. Thank you. And to those of you who PM'd me asking when or if I was continuing this story because you really liked it and wanted more. I never intended to abandon this story; I was merely trying to write it when I had the time. Thanks for reminding me that it was still waiting for me, as were all of you. You guys really kicked my butt into gear and made me want to churn out this chapter faster.**

**I do have a few questions for you all, though. Should I do sections in POV? I've had one or two requests for it, but I want to see what the general public thinks. So far, I've only slipped in some random thoughts from select characters here and there, but what does everyone think about POV? Personally, I'm interested by it. I've seen other authors do it, and I like it. Even though this is my story, I want people to like it. Options are as follows:**

**Harry (obviously)**

**Sirius**

**Remus**

**Dumbledore**

**Next order of business… Remus may seem a bit out of it in this chapter. I'm sorry. I really love Remus. He's just having a hard time processing all this. The full moon is very close at this point, and he's not only tired, but now he's pissed. Honestly, that's quite frightening. And he doesn't want to scare Harry by letting his emotions show, so he's just decided to keep quiet for now because the wolf is so close to the surface. Maybe Sirius will talk to him and they'll go blow off some steam.**

**That's really about all I've got so, let's get on with it… Here's the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Sure I own Harry Potter. And Disney. I own it all. Which is exactly why I'm sitting here, working my way through college, writing fanfiction, when I could have just put all of this in my books. And I don't even make any money for this fanfiction! So of course this makes bloody sense! No, J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter; I just get to play around in her world for a little while. And I don't own Disney either, but hey, I can dream. (That inspires several quotes…)**

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Chapter 3

For the three days following Harry's arrival at the hospital wing, Harry remained unconscious. For three sleepless days, Sirius Black sat beside his godson's bed, nearly in tears.

In the past three days, when Harry had regained consciousness during the brief moments that the pain potions had worn off, the poor boy had woken, whimpering in both pain and fear, sometimes even screaming. Lately, however, had been better; the last time Harry had woken, he hadn't seemed to be in so much pain, but Sirius couldn't be sure. Maybe this time Madame Pomfrey would let him stay awake for a while.

Sirius had barely slept lately. When he had, Remus had stayed with Harry. Sirius refused to leave the hospital wing, though, and always woke with a start at the slightest noise Harry made. This was why Remus was currently sitting next to Harry's bed, as Sirius slept on the bed to Harry's right.

It had been several hours since Madame Pomfrey had last given Harry a pain potion. Remus had convinced Sirius to take the opportunity to get some sleep, and Sirius, being exhausted, had agreed to the suggestion after making Remus promise to wake him if there was any change with Harry. Harry was now beginning to stir, and as much as Remus knew Sirius needed the sleep, he knew it was best for both the adult and child in question if Sirius was awake.

"Sirius!" Remus whisper-shouted. "Sirius!"

Sirius twitched. Harry whimpered.

"Sirius, mate, wake up!" said Remus urgently. Remus charmed a piece of crumpled parchment to pelt itself at Sirius' head until he woke up.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" Sirius snapped. "How's Harry?"

"Oh, good, you're up," said Remus pleasantly. "He's just starting to come 'round again."

Sirius jumped from the bed and was in a chair next to Harry's bed in an instant.

"Harry?" Sirius tested.

Harry flinched.

Sirius took Harry's hand and sighed. He hadn't really expected a response, but he's hoped, maybe… Harry whimpered again. Sirius gently rubbed his arm and shushed him, telling him everything was okay. After a few minutes, Harry started to open his eyes.

Sirius quickly put Harry's glasses on his face and helped him sit up slowly. Harry blinked, looking around before resting his eyes on Remus first, then finally on Sirius. Sirius bent to hug Harry loosely, at which Harry stiffened. Sirius pretended not to notice.

"How do you feel, pup?" asked Sirius gently. "You really scared us Harry."

Harry tore his eyes from Sirius, opting instead to look at his hands. He had a guilty expression on his face.

"Harry?" asked Remus a bit more sternly than Sirius, "are you in any pain? If so, tell us and we'll get Madame Pomfrey."

Harry paused for a moment and then shook his head.

Remus eyed him suspiciously and sighed. This was going to take a while.

"Well, I'll go get Poppy anyway," he said resignedly. "She'll want to know you're awake and you probably have some potions to take."

Again, Harry nodded, but continued to stare at his hands.

"Harry," said Sirius softly, taking one of his hands in his own, "why didn't you tell me? How long has this been going on?"

Harry slowly looked back up at Sirius. He seemed to be at war with himself on what to say, if anything at all.

"I couldn't tell anyone," Harry croaked, his voice hoarse from not having been used. "If they found out I'd told someone, especially anyone from our world, well… And I can't really remember when it started; as far back as I can remember, I suppose."

"Oh, Harry," said Sirius quietly. _'Damn those Muggles!'_ he thought savagely. _'How dare they hurt my godson!'_

Just then, Madame Pomfrey walked in closely followed by Remus.

"Wonderful, Mr. Potter, you're up," said Madame Pomfrey.

She did a quick check of his injuries and gave him several potions, all of which tasted absolutely vile.

"Yes, you seem to be healing quite nicely," said the mediwitch, sounding satisfied. "Just a few more days and you should be almost as good as new."

"Almost?" said Sirius worriedly.

"Well, he'll need rest and I'll keep him on a couple of potions for a week or two, just to make certain his health is where it ought to be," she said nonchalantly.

Both Sirius and Remus looked relieved at this news.

"But he'll be okay, though, right?" asked Remus uncertainly.

"Physically, he'll be just fine in about a week or so. Emotionally, mentally… well, I'm afraid that's going to take a bit more time, and I can't do anything for that."

Sirius exchanged a look with Remus. They didn't like the sound of that.

"Well, Madame Pomfrey, could you answer one more question for us?" asked Sirius.

"Certainly, Mr. Black," replied Madame Pomfrey.

"Harry doesn't seem to remember when this all started," Sirius stated. "Could you do a record spell of some sort please?"

"Of course," she complied.

She waved her wand once and a quill and parchment hovered by her. Madame Pomfrey waved her wand slowly over Harry and the quill began to write. The quill wrote and wrote, and the list on the quill grew steadily longer. Harry hung his head and stared at his hands. Sirius and Remus stared at the quill and parchment, appalled at this new revelation.

Eventually, the quill stopped writing. Madame Pomfrey unfurled the parchment and scanned over it. Harry heard her gasp and looked up to see her reaction – she had brought her hand up to cover her mouth and the usually composed mediwitch appeared to be fighting tears. Harry dropped his head again in embarrassment. Sirius and Remus stared at the piece of parchment as if it had deeply offended them.

"Let me see that," Sirius growled, holding his hand out to take it from Madame Pomfrey. "Please," he added as an afterthought.

Poppy handed him the parchment with a shaking hand and quickly turned to head back to her office. As Sirius' eyes flitted across the parchment, he seemed to grow more and more upset the more he read. Eventually, he thrust the paper at Remus and began to rub his eyes. Sirius turned to Harry and pulled him into a fierce hug. Harry tensed and gasped quietly, but Sirius ignored it.

"Harry, I want you to understand that what they did… Normal people don't do that to other people, especially to kids. It isn't right for someone to treat a child the way they treated you. Do you understand? There's something wrong with them, not you. That will never happen to you again, ever. We love you so much, Harry. Do you understand me?"

Sirius lifted Harry's chin so that he was looking directly into his eyes. He had said they love him. Sirius meant himself and Remus… No one had ever said that to him before; he knew that people cared, but love was something else entirely, something that had never been directed towards him. Should he trust that? It was possible that Sirius meant it, he looked like he wanted to cry. But where would he be when Sirius and Remus discovered Harry was more trouble than he was worth and didn't want him around anymore? He would just have to cross that bridge when he came to it; for now, he was stuck. Slowly, he nodded at Sirius. Sirius looked at him skeptically and Harry knew Sirius had caught his lie.

"Sorry, I – I mean – " Harry sputtered.

"Harry, stop. I know you don't understand completely right now. You will though. It will take some time, but we have plenty of it. You don't have to really understand right now, just accept that we're here and we aren't going anywhere."

Harry nodded. They weren't upset at him. They were upset that he was hurt. That was different.

'_Yeah, they think that now,'_ said a nasty voice inside Harry's head. _'Just wait until they realize I deserved it. I did nearly get Sirius killed, after all.'_

Harry jumped when he felt a hand on the side of his head. He broke from his thoughts, looking wildly around. Realizing it was only Remus, he relaxed.

"How about some food, Harry?" Remus suggested, sharing a look with Sirius. "You need to eat something."

Harry, now staring back at his hands, merely shrugged.

They had three trays of food brought up from the kitchens. Sirius and Remus continued to try to engage Harry in conversation, but he barely said three words throughout their entire meal. He ate very little, too, barely eating a third of the food on his plate. Now he was just pushing the food around.

"Harry, you haven't eaten much," Remus commented.

Harry stopped pushing the food around and looked at his plate with a grimace. It was true; he had eaten very little. He just wasn't used to eating very often since the summer holidays started. Now, he just didn't want to be sick from it.

"Sorry," he muttered quietly. "I can't eat any more. I don't want to be sick."

"It's okay," said Sirius quickly. "You ate what you could."

Harry nodded and stifled a yawn. Though it seemed he hadn't been awake for very long, he was suddenly very tired and very sore again.

Remus and Sirius took note of his yawn and vanished their trays. He wished they hadn't noticed, he didn't want them to go yet. Harry may not have felt much up to talking, but he didn't exactly want to be left alone yet, either.

Before he knew what was happening, a pair of strong hands was gently easing him back to his pillows. Not expecting the touch, Harry flinched and tensed, trying to release himself from the hold.

"Easy," said Sirius soothingly. "It's only me. Let me help you lay back."

Harry looked up blearily and realized that Sirius had a hand gently on his back and his arm, and was currently attempting to ease him onto his pillows. He gave himself a shake to clear his head and immediately regretted it. His head pounded with pain, and he bit his lip to prevent a moan escaping.

"Come on, pup," said Sirius softly. "Just go to sleep. We'll be right here when you wake up."

Sirius eased Harry back onto his pillows and Harry whimpered. A grimace spread across his face and he gritted his teeth in pain.

"I'll go get Madame Pomfrey," said Remus hurriedly, and he rushed down the wing.

"Are you in a lot of pain?" Sirius asked worriedly.

"Hurts," Harry hissed through gritted teeth. "It hurts."

Sirius smoothed Harry's hair from his face as they waited for Remus to return with Madame Pomfrey. They didn't have to wait long, as not even a minute later the mediwitch came bustling down the ward carrying several bottles with her.

"Where does it hurt, Potter?" she inquired.

"Everywhere," he whimpered.

She thrust a potion bottle at him and he gratefully accepted it. He downed it in one gulp despite the terrible taste.

"Since you're going to sleep now, I should give you your other potions," she informed him.

"I thought I already took them?" asked Harry.

"I couldn't give you the Skele-Gro until you woke up," explained Madame Pomfrey. "But I thought it would be better if you took it before you went to sleep so you didn't feel the effects."

"Skele-Gro?!" said Harry incredulously. "I haven't lost any bones this time!"

"This time?" asked Sirius. "When have you lost bones?"

"It's a long story," Harry said dismissively.

"Potter, you had a shattered ankle and a broken femur," argued Madame Pomfrey. "That's not including all of your other broken bones that I've already mended. You're not taking a full dose like last time, just a fraction of one."

Harry pouted but took the vial nonetheless. Thanks to the pain potion, he knew he probably wouldn't feel much, if anything.

Madame Pomfrey left a Dreamless Sleep potion on the bedside table for him, just in case he wanted it or needed it, and then she left for her office again.

Sirius and Remus were once again sitting on either side of his bed. Neither of them said anything, rather they looked worriedly at him and then exchanged nervous looks. Harry wished they wouldn't, he really wasn't terribly hurt. This was nothing to the Cruciatus Curse. Harry sighed out of both exasperation and exhaustion and suddenly Sirius and Remus seemed to snap out of their thoughts and turn their attention to Harry.

"Harry, are you tired?" asked Remus.

"Sort of…" Harry mumbled.

"Then why not try to sleep?" he suggested. "That Skele-Gro works fast, and I'm sure you don't want to feel it working."

Harry seemed to consider this and after a minute or so he nodded. He settled further back into his pillows and took his glasses off, laying them on the bedside table.

When Harry finally lay down, Sirius began to card his fingers through Harry's hair. Harry closed his eyes at this and leaned slightly into the touch. It was very soothing, and he never remembered having been comforted as he was now, or even having someone there when he fell asleep. He had never been 'tucked in' before, and it felt nice now that Sirius and Remus had, but he knew he'd never ask them to do it again. Though he had missed a lot, he _was_ almost grown, and Harry reckoned that if he had made it this far without certain things, he'd do fine later on without them as well.

Before long, Harry's breathing had evened out and he was asleep. Sirius and Remus exchanged another look and began to speak in hushed tones.

"I want to go see Dumbledore," Sirius stated.

"So do I," Remus all but growled. "And we're taking that parchment from earlier."

"Remus…" started Sirius slowly, "You don't think – you don't think Harry would be afraid of us, do you? I mean, because of _them_?"

Remus thought for a minute.

"Well, he flinches every time someone touches him," he reasoned. "It's possible he doesn't trust us. We'll have to talk to him more. We don't know what they told him growing up; that has a lot to do with it. We may have to try to ease it out of him. I don't know, Padfoot."

This did nothing to reassure Sirius. Both men looked sadly at the sleeping boy between them.

"This isn't right, Moony," whispered Sirius. "He's supposed to be happy. He's supposed to be taken care of and loved. We were supposed to raise him and spoil him."

"I know, Padfoot," Remus sighed. "I know."

Sirius leaned over and again smoothed out Harry's hair, just for something to do.

"It's going to be okay, Harry," he whispered to the sleeping form. "Just you wait and see. We're here now."

* * *

**A/N: So that was Chapter 3. How did everyone like it? Please don't forget about what I asked: POV, yes or no, and if so, who? Please review, everyone! Thanks! Until next time!**


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